May I Speak to the Manager?

Read

1 Chronicles 29:11, “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all.”

1 Chronicles 29:12 “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.”

Think

“God owns all the stuff.”

Envy. Greed. Pride. When you read those terms, chances are your hand won’t go flying in the air to signal you identify with them, right? However, if we are being honest, we have all experienced these at some point. Ultimately, each of these terms relates to possessions. The word “possession” means the state of having, owning, or controlling something. Tuck this definition away, as we revisit what the Bible tells us about possessions.

Read today’s verses again. Really. Go back and read them again.

Because we live in a consumeristic culture, we think what we have is ours. The world tells us our stuff makes us powerful, secure and wealthy. This concept contradicts Scripture. Simply stated: God owns all the stuff. All possessions are God’s and exist in our lives because he allows us to have them! And, recognizing that God owns all the stuff causes envy, greed and pride to go out the window as we accept that we are managers of all we have – God is the owner.

Act

Being generous is the best way to publicly show that you acknowledge “your stuff” is actually God’s stuff. Today, give something you value away as a declaration that it wasn’t really yours to begin with.

Pray

Dear God, I recognize and acknowledge that the stuff I have is yours. Thank you for allowing me to be the manager of it. Help me to keep this truth at the center of all I do, and to be generous with what I have. Amen.